HBO Films Archives

The Hitcher (1986)

Rating: ★★★★★

Feb 17, 2003Psycho Hitchhiker

One of the best horror films of the 1980s, a grippingly suspenseful work where C. Thomas Howell is caught in a series of taunting psychological games across the interstate after offering psychopathic hitcher Rutger Hauer a ride

Director: Robert Harmon

Actors: C. Thomas Howell, Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Category: Horror

17 February 200324 February 2026 by Roog

By Dawn’s Early Light (1990)

Rating: ★★★

Aug 14, 2024Nuclear War

The last gasp of the Cold War nuclear film. A tv movie that features Martin Landau is the US President who tries to stop an accidental Russian nuclear release escalating into full-out war

Director: Jack Sholder

Actors: Martin Landau, Powers Boothe, Rebecca De Mornay, Darren McGavin, …

Category: Science Fiction

14 August 202426 May 2026 by Roog

Mom and Dad Save the World (1992)

Rating: ★★

Aug 24, 2010Adventures on a Planet of Stupid People Comedy

Films about stupid people are rarely funny - this concerns a whole planet of stupid people. Despite reasonable production values, there is little that raises even a mild smile in this comedic take on Flash Gordon

Director: Greg Beeman

Actors: Jeffrey Jones, Teri Garr, Jon Lovitz, Dwier Brown, …

Category: Science Fiction

24 August 20108 January 2025 by Roog

Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1993)

Rating: ★★

Dec 13, 2002Giant Woman

The first time we have had a remake of a bad movie - in this case the 1958 film. The title role is cast with Darryl Hannah and the shabby effects gets a much more polished work over

Director: Christopher Guest

Actors: Daryl Hannah, Daniel Baldwin, William Windom, Frances Fisher, …

Category: Science Fiction

13 December 200220 November 2025 by Roog

Fatherland (1994)

Rating: ★★

Apr 17, 2001Alternate History/Nazi Rule

Disappointing film version of Robert Harris’s excellent novel depicting an alternate history where the Nazis won World War II. On screen, the book is watered down and given an upbeat happy ending

Director: Christopher Menaul

Actors: Rutger Hauer, Miranda Richardson, Peter Vaughan, Michael Kitchen, …

Category: Science Fiction

17 April 200121 October 2025 by Roog

Angels in America (2003)

Rating: ★★★★★

Jan 6, 2005Surreal AIDS Drama/Angelic Visitations

Stunning tv mini-series adaptation of Tony Kushner's award-winning play about the impact of the AIDS crisis on gay culture in the 1980s, which becomes a surreal fantasy filled with appearances of angels and ghosts

Director: Mike Nichols

Actors: Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Justin Kirk, …

Category: Fantasy

6 January 200518 November 2025 by Roog

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009)

Rating: ★★★

Nov 17, 2010Time-Travelling Science-Fiction Fans

Science-fiction fans go time travelling in this British film that offers a good many wry fannish in-jokes mixed with a modestly clever time travel scenario

Director: Gareth Carrivick

Actors: Chris O'Dowd, Dean Lennox Kelly, Marc Wootton, Anna Faris

Category: Science Fiction

17 November 201023 October 2025 by Roog